e-Mando Pickups

[NAS]

Hi,
I recently bought an Alden(EastWood) Mandocaster, which following Rhinestones mod’s is excellent.

I have decided to have a go at making my own e-Mando as I have a workshop full of tools and a stack of 20 year+ seasoned Ash + access to some beautiful Maple.
My knowledge on guitar / mando pickups is limited so I'm looking for some information / advice. I got hold of the scratch plate and pickup assembly from a Mexican Fender Strat but the pickups have the pole pieces at different heights. I could understand if the poles were higher at the treble side but it's the centre poles that are higher. The Alden/Eastwood has enclosed pickup covers so I can't see if this is the same and I don't particularly want to take it apart at present. Will the pickups work as is, do I need to alter the pole heights or should I buy something different?
I would be grateful for any information you can offer.
Neil

[Daniel Nestlerode]

Pole heights in those types of pickups are like fader settings on a graphic equalizer. The lower the pole, the weaker the signal coming from the string. The pickup you have is set to emphasize the mid-range on a guitar.

It should work fine. Try it out. If you need to, you can adjust poles later.

Daniel

[mandroid]

2 of mine that are of a non individual pole core of the windings type, both Strat Format.

A Fender Lace sensor [gold model] (mr. Lace has his own production too )

.. and an EMG select , a stacked dual coil Humbucking sort.

I note: Steve Ryder will make 4 and 5 pole pickups to suit your needs ..

Carvin sells pickups which are using a side by side row of screws in the core , with those , presumably you can adjust the distance to the string on each, and being so close,
they are all part of a magnetized bar in effect.

[craig.collas]

Hi
Webers solidbody electric has a dimazio rail that can be split.
I like the lead placement on the strat because when it is on a stand the lead isnt poking into the floor making it unstable, my recent pet gripe solved by using a right angle lead.
All the best with your building project.

[crazymandolinist]

You could also use a Dano style Lipstick pickup. GFS sells some strat sized ones for like thirty bucks. They also have some good blade pickups.

[thistle3585]

FWIW, the poles are higher in the middle to accommodate a radiused bridge, fretboard and nut. The rails on DiMarzio humbuckers are also arched in the middle for the same reason. It looks a bit subtle because of the pickup cover. The GFS pickups, for the most part, have flat rails.

Also, guitarelectronics.com has a lot of single humbucker wiring mods that can give you a lot of switching options without being complex.

[NAS]

Thanks for the suggestions, I had been looking at the rails pickups an thought that might be a good solution. I think I will end up using this as a bit of a test bed and end up trying a few things before | get it right.

I have managed to modify the Pickups I have, as they have the Alnico magnet on the back and steel pole pieces throught he coil. I removed the poles with the aid of moderate heat from a soldering iron to melt the wax holding them and then trimmed them to the same lengths in my lathe.

It will be a little while before I try them out as the maple for the neck has just arrived.

[mandroid]

90 degree Right angle Plug ends solve a lot of situations off the stand , too,
with end-button-jacks.

I find them better with edge mounted jacks and also the face mounted sort too , given the smaller confines of mini-Tele styled bodys .

.. though not using a right angle tip in a Strat angled Jack-Well..

[Hubert Angaiak]

Are there other mandolin pickup makers other than Steve Ryder? Are electric guitar pickups picks that will pick up vibrations of the string? What I'm getting at it: Considering the scale length of the mandolin and all its components... does it matter if a pickup is specific design for the mandolin? I have a basic understanding in how a pickup is made... Do you think there is a specific signature spectrum for the mandolin, has anyone found that? Or its there, but the human can't hear it. You can tell me if this question is bunk?? That special electric pickup that you can tell right off that is a mandolin instead of a guitar capoed way up.

[thistle3585]

No, it does not matter that a pickup is designed for a mandolin or any other instrument. There is no "traditional" sound, or signature spectrum, for a solid body mandolin like there is for an acoustic. So, you can use whatever pickup you want, so the next step is to find one that will work. I suggest not going below a 6 Ohm pickup because you will struggle with the E string. There are ways to alter the tone of a pickup by using a variety of capacitors, resistors, different sized pots etc. to get the tone you are looking for. A lot of custom pickup companies will build mandolin pickups, but a few have more experience with it and can do a better job winding one to your specs. Bill Lawrence comes to mind.

[Hubert Angaiak]

Well... shoot I was hoping there would be a secret ingredient somewhere the designers have not found. You are right that it wouldn't just be the pickups but rather the whole signal path. Maybe its just my ears aren't that good anymore, but playing 4 string sounds like a guitar. using 8 string there is some difference compared to the 4 string. I don't have an electric 12 string to see if the the 8 string would sound like it. However, I bet there are electric mandolin players out there that can make it sound like an electric mandolin rather than an electric guitar. I love playing them and exploring what I can do with them. Now it would be neat to have an electric mando that you can switch out the electrics on the fly!! So if a song asks for the HB type use than and then single coil type change it out. Hmmm... maybe change it out from the back so you don't have to remove the strings, quick connects to the output jack. Maybe someone has done it already.

[mandroid]

There are specially wound pickups that allow a switch to go between single coil and 2 coils for humbucking effect.

I recall Rickenbacker guitars dampening 6 of their 12 string by some mech ,
but Id suggest
a double neck instrument to get a mandolin to be both double string and single string and change on the fly ...

an 8&5 string double neck ? or that collectible Gibson Mandolin/ tenor guitar combo at Elderly

[thistle3585]

So if a song asks for the HB type use than and then single coil type change it out. Hmmm... maybe change it out from the back so you don't have to remove the strings, quick connects to the output jack. Maybe someone has done it already.

No switch out necessary, just use a HB with a coil tapping switch to shut off one of the coils in the HB.

[Hubert Angaiak]

My apologies to NAS for highjacking this thread. The pole heights are depended on your neck radius. from what I understand the neck radius to be is you measure the distance of the radius from the center.. say 12 inch or 7.25 inches and the circumference curve of the neck will have a label as 12 or 7.25. So you will notice the 12 inch is flatter than the 7.25. So generally the pickup makers will ask if the neck radius is modern (12 inch) versus vintage (7.25 inch) so the middle pole pieces will stick out more than than the bass e and the treble e strings. If I am wrong someone please correct me. I've an EMG bass pickup on my Old Town and I think the Bales has Fralin rails. But as Mr. Thistle3585 said, it all depends on your taste in tone.

Yes.. coil tapping, phase switches, bright switches. Pedals along signal path. Maybe I was thinking along the lines of pickup output ratings but I guess you can get the pickup closer to the strings. Or a gadgety electric mando. (trying to save face here... hee hee)

[meow-n-dolin]

I started with an Epi four-string, but have been building 5-strings (I am on number 4) for about over a year now (just for personal use, not for sale). I ran into the same problem with the Epi -- the high E string just didn't cut it. I tried several pups, but with little change. I had Steve Ryder make me one, and I can definitely recommend it, but still, the weak E string. I am currently using EMG H4 and H4-A (clean and dirty passive, rail-style humbuckers), but they still lack the high end response I want.

So I decided, since guitarists often site the high-end respose of active pups (supposedly the low-impedance does the trick) that, rather than shell out yet hundreds more, that I would "activate" my passive pups with a booster/preamp (I used the EMG, but there are others out there). That did the trick... the treble now comes through and, actually, all the strings just seem more lively. Best $30 I have invested yet, with the possible exception of going to flat-wound strings.

[250sc]

"Maybe its just my ears aren't that good anymore, but playing 4 string sounds like a guitar."

I agree that solid body 4 or 5 string sounds like solid body guitar.

[Daniel Nestlerode]

"Maybe its just my ears aren't that good anymore, but playing 4 string sounds like a guitar."

I agree that solid body 4 or 5 string sounds like solid body guitar.

And that's bad because... ?

Daniel

[meow-n-dolin]

"Maybe its just my ears aren't that good anymore, but playing 4 string sounds like a guitar."

I agree that solid body 4 or 5 string sounds like solid body guitar.

Indeed the sound is not all that different. But it's not quite the same, either, just as shorter-or-longer-than-standard scale lenghts on a guitar (even andelectric one) sound slightly different, so does a solid-body mando.

Thanks

Al

[250sc]

"And that's bad because... ?"

No judgment. Just an observation.

[Don Stiernberg]

I'm pretty sure you could get any of the major pickup makers to make you either a four or five pole pickup with tonal characteristics and flexibility(single or double coil,'tapping'..)you're looking for. Of course some waiting might be involved. I know Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio have done this. I think the humbuckers(with coil taps) on my Stevens "Paul Glasse' model are DiMarzios, while the ones on Paul's original are Seymour Duncans. Others to investigate would be Kent Armstrong,Jason Lollar,Lace, EMG, and whoevers pickups are in those Glaser mandolins from Nashville and whoever's pickups are in the Schwab mandos like the Michael Lampert model. good luck in your quest and hopefully the pickup will not cost you more than the rest of the mandolin.

[Hubert Angaiak]

Seymour Duncan has mandolin pickups in their lineup. Go to Products -> Custom Shop -> Specialized and you will find Mini HB, P90 Dog Ear and Stack for Fender Mando. Although this may not matter, but I dropped them a line and asked how much it would be for a P-Rails type pickup made.